


High Hopes High Fall

by Goldstone_Wolf



Series: High Hopes Low (Blank) [30]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), High Hopes Low Rolls (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Mild Injuries, Panic Attacks, Passing Out, Slight Hurt/Comfort, TBA - Freeform, flashbacks to the travelling circus!, height mentions, references to blood drawing in the ante-notes, some talk of blood but that's in the notes, this is the thirtieth High Hopes Low Blank fic y'all, this wasn't the original story for today but i passed out so sorry, tws for:
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:48:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24903319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldstone_Wolf/pseuds/Goldstone_Wolf
Summary: Paddy relives a bad fall at the circus when he falls off an enemy (a big enemy) in the middle of a battle.
Relationships: Mostly Just Friendships that I Am Too Lazy To Tag
Series: High Hopes Low (Blank) [30]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1692196
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	High Hopes High Fall

**Author's Note:**

> So originally, you guys were going to get a different fic today but I’m saving that one for when I actually get my blood drawn for real. Long story short, I passed out and had a panic attack but we can get some of the tests done. I still have to go back, though.  
> Anyways, TWs in tags. Paddy’s little passing out moments are quite literally based on how it feels for me (one advantage of having passed out! One of the others is naps). However, I have only broken one bone and it was my left middle finger due to my dog when I was three so I don’t really remember what happened. All of the flashbacks will be in italics.   
> Now, let’s jump into this!

Something was wrong.

He wasn’t sure what, but it didn’t feel like he was breathing right. Actually, it didn’t feel like he was breathing _at all._ Rocks poked into his back and he was dimly aware of lying on the ground, chest heaving as he stared at the sky and tried to breathe. Dark grey clouds swirled around the deepening twilight and for a brief second he couldn’t tell what was going on or where he was.

Someone skidded to a stop by him and touched his shoulder. Blinking, he looked at them and frowned. Sound hadn’t quite returned to the world yet and his ears were ringing. “…ddy! Can…e?” He just managed to shake his head and the person above him held him still. They kept talking and gradually sound returned, even though he had the sudden sense of being too hot and…floating? But he was on the ground. “Hey, you’re okay, you’re…just breathe, Pad…do that for me?”

Everything faded out and he swore he heard voices but he wasn’t sure.

+++

_“Come on, wood elf, show me what you got!”_

_Paddy laughed and stepped out on the wires thrown across the expanse of their centre ring. Across from him, Faith was slumped casually against one of the taller posts holding the tarp up. “That’s not much of a challenge, Faith.” He mused, glancing down and then immediately regretting it._

_He wasn’t_ scared _of heights. He just…didn’t like them, that was all. Besides, it was something he would have to get used to within the next couple of…however long he was staying with Monroe and the others._

_“Hey, Pads.” He glanced up to see Faith smiling at him almost in a concerned way, like Cara occasionally had. “You don’t have to if you really don’t want to. We can go back down.”_

_Shrugging, he shook his head and walked out a little further on the line. It dipped under his weight and his stomach sunk with it, but he smiled back at her like nothing had happened and took a deep breath. “It’s fine. I’m fine, Faith. Promise.”_

You’re not fine, just ask if you can go down. _The more logical side of him mused, but he shook his feelings off and kept walking. He wasn’t about to turn down a challenge. Besides, this was_ easy _. He just…had to walk across…without a net._

_Glancing down again, he froze._ That’s…really high up. Okay, maybe I didn’t—maybe I should go back down. _His stomach did a backflip and all of a sudden the lights were way too bright._

_Everything went dark._

_“Paddy?”_

_“…nasty fall…”_

_“…think he’s alright?”_

_“…bleeding?”_

_When Paddy’s vision returned, the first thing he did was start gasping. He didn’t even mean to, he just was. Faith held his shoulders down, worry painted across her face, while Wralin and some of the others held people who’d started crowding back. “It’s okay, sweetie, you’re okay.” Faith murmured, stroking his hair back and out of his face. The lights were so bright…what had he been doing?_

_Making a sound somewhere between a gasp and a whimper, he tried lifting his hand. His arm felt like someone was stabbing it with something, but he wasn’t sure what. It just burned, numb and prickling all at once. “Someone get a medic!”_

_“What…happened?” He was still gasping, barely able to take much more than short breaths. It felt like someone was sitting or pressing on his chest and he couldn’t move he couldn’t breathe_ what was going on—

_“Ssh, Paddy, it’s okay. Come on, breathe with me. Can you do that?” Faith asked, taking an audible breath. After a few seconds, he managed to copy her, albeit shakily and not as well as either of them would have liked. “Yeah, that’s good, like that. Just breathe.”_

_They did that until the closest thing they had to a doctor sprinted up._

+++

He jolted awake gasping and crying, and someone pushed him down to the ground and held him there.

“Paddy! Paddy, look at me.” Blinking, he tried to look around but they used one hand to hold him and the other to turn his face towards them. Dimly, he registered that it was Malark but everything was wrong why was he on the ground he couldn’t breathe—“Paddy, focus on me. You need to look at me, okay?”

“What—” Shaking his head, Paddy kept gasping. His eyes were burning and he couldn’t get enough air. “What happened?” He wasn’t sure how he managed to choke out the words.

“Hold on, just hold on, you need to take a breath. Can you do that for me?” Shakily, Paddy nodded, and Malark glanced around in a panic. He didn’t know what to do, and he must have beckoned someone over because Paddy heard racing footsteps crunching in the dirt and then someone else was by his side.

“Hey, Pads. Malark, think you can go help or do you want to stay here?” Gwing asked, gently pressing down on Paddy’s head as if to check for something. Apparently, she didn’t find what she was looking for, considering the mumbling, and she let out a sigh of relief. Malark abruptly vanished, and part of Paddy missed that. The rest of him, though, was still freaking out about why he was on the ground and what had happened because he didn’t know and—“Hey, Paddy, I need to you repeat some stuff for me. Think you can do that? Paddy?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Okay. Five, three, seven.” They did that for a couple minutes until his breathing had evened out. It felt like an eternity, if he was being honest, but at the same time nothing at all. Then he was just really shaky and confused.

“What happened?”

“You don’t remember?” He shook his head, and Gwing glanced over her shoulder. “Well, we were fighting…something. It just ran off—the others should be sprinting over any minute now. You jumped on its back and it threw you off, so you hit the ground pretty hard and passed out after a couple seconds. You weren’t out for long, though.”

“Oh…” Grunting, he made an attempt to sit up but she just held him down.

“Stay down, you’re alright. Everyone’s fine. But you shouldn’t be moving. Just get some rest, and we’ll take you back to town and fix you up. Okay?” Nodding, he settled back and closed his eyes.

+++

_“Hey, Pads, how you feeling?”_

_He glanced up from where he was laying on one of the beds. Faith and Wralin had snuck into the medical area, even though it was late at night and they really ought to be preparing for the show tomorrow. With a weak smile, he shrugged, sitting up and trying to put as little pressure on his left arm as possible. It had broken in the fall—it had been fixed by one of the local healers, and it would be a little sore for a while. He wasn’t supposed to try performing for a few more days, even though he could help out with setting up if he felt up to it._

_“Better, thanks. Sorry if I scared you guys.” They glanced at each other. “What?”_

_“You don’t need to apologise for passing out. You know that happens, right?” Faith asked, coming over and sitting down next to him. He shrugged, then nodded when she narrowed her eyes in his direction. “We wanted to check in on you. See how you’re doing.”_

_“I’ll be fine, don’t worry.” When she shot him a look, he laughed. “What?”_

_Shaking her head, she rolled her eyes and lightly punched him in his uninjured shoulder. “You, Whitlaw, are one of the strangest people I have ever met. Come here.” She dragged him into a hug, careful of his sore arm, and he glanced at Wralin._

_A few days later, Faith made sure they had a net before daring him to walk the ropes again._

**Author's Note:**

> Faith was using the breathing technique I use when I have panic attacks on my own (well, usually I just try to hold my breath and that seems to work for me), while Gwing used the method my mom has the past two times that I passed out (it works, too). I skipped over most of the whole tactic but for the second one it’s a psychological trick that uses the fact the numbers are out of order to get the person to think and focus on that. I’m not sure exactly how it works, though.  
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for reading! If you’ve read the series, we have reached number thirty of the High Hopes Low Blank series and I for one think that is absolutely crazy! Thanks to those of you who stuck around for it since the beginning, or just started reading today. Y’all are awesome and appreciated and amazing and loved and I hope you have an abso-freaking-lutely wonderful !  
> Now, into the fray once more!


End file.
